Florence E Troy

 Florence Emily Gertrude Troy, 1912-1920

Florence was the daughter of George T S Troy and Betsy Mauldin Crisp of  "Fairfield", Quandialla. NSW.

At last here is the sad story of this poor little Girl.. She was born at Morrisons Hill, Cootamundra, 28/5/1912. She had apparently been a problem child from an early age , with an under developed mental capacity. According to her mother,. Florence or "Cissy", as she was called,  became a handful from around the age of two and in the latter years her disposition became a threat to both her Mother and her siblings. She was a restless and violent child,  unable to speak, except with the words "Mum" and "Dad". She understood very little and was uncontrolable. She suffered poor health, having been undersize and underweight, suffering persistant diarrhoea and vomiting. She was admitted to the Newcastle Mental Hospital  14 Sept 1920 at 8 years of age, weighing just 3 stone, 6 lbs and  3 foot 11 inches tall. 

Following a search of  James Fletcher, Morissett and Stockton Hospitals as well as Hunter Area Health. Her records were finally found to be  held in State Archives at Kingswood. An extensive trail of paperwork, was followed through. ( by permission of Dept of Health). Found were,  several pages of information as well as several letters from her mother Betsy "Bessie" Troy. Full file details are available on request.

The Death Certificate states Florence as having died of Enteritis and Heart Failure. Which would be consistent with her medical history. She died on 23/11/1920  at just 8 years of age and was buried at Sandgate Cemetery, Newcastle.  (C of E, Grave 77, Section 74). Her death was certified by Alfred Hodgkins, Mental Hospital Newcastle.

PS. There are several possibilties for the causes of her illness, such as Autism , which can develop complications and cardiac failure at an early age.But no conclusions have been drawn. Epilepsy was ruled out by the Doctors.

The age of her siblings when she was 8 years of age : Les 15, Vin 13, Bert 11, Esmond 10, Dot 6, Daphne 4, Marge 1, Nita(Joan) 2 

Note;

A trait of mental illness is noted in some of the Troy line. Foremost was Patricks son "Patrick" who was admitted to a mental asylum in Sydney and also Thomas Troy who married Catherine Crisp. But these could be explained away by outside influences.  Of note also, is the fact that George T S Troy and Betsy Crisp were first cousins. While Florence could have had a genetic defect,  she could also have had an unknown illness. For example; Coeliac disease, can cause intestinal disorders, stunted growth, malnutrion, diarrhoea, vomiting and Autism. But given the times they lived in, to have only one child with a serious disabilty out of thirteen, as noted by one family member, is quite a good record.

Paul;05